Rebecca Eaton, M. S., CCC-SLP
CEO
Rebecca Eaton, M. S., CCC-SLP, obtained a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2006 and a master’s Degree in Communication Disorders in 2008 both from The University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Following graduation Rebecca began her career with the Cheshire Center where she has served children in a variety of settings and ages ranging from birth to school aged with multiple needs. Her special interests include clinical supervision, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) including high and low tech devices, and autism spectrum disorder. In addition, Rebecca has supervised Clinical Fellows, mentored other SLPs, and is currently the Clinical Director. “I have enjoyed all of my roles at Cheshire Center as each of them have allowed me to grow professionally as a clinician. While learning from experiences, peers, and other professionals, I am enabled to continue to impact the children and families we serve and stay true to the reason I chose this rewarding career path!”
Laura Michael, M. S., CCC-SLP
Clinical Director, Bilingual Advisor & Alamance County Mentor
Laura Michael, M.S., CCC-SLP, earned Bachelor’s degrees in Psychology and Modern Foreign Languages from Presbyterian College in 2006 and a Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Appalachian State University in 2011. She began her career with Cheshire Center in 2011 and has since enjoyed facilitating the speech, language, and communication journeys of children ranging in age from toddler to elementary. Laura’s particular areas of interest include articulation/phonology, early language, bilingualism/cultural competence, and supervision. She enjoys the challenges, diversity, and gratification that life as a Pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist holds. “I feel lucky to have landed on a career that melds my many interests into one role and allows me to learn and grow alongside my clients. It is a privilege and a joy to be entrusted with the task of opening up a new world of communication to children and their families and to join in celebration of successes big and small along the way.”
Beth Presley, M.A., CCC-SLP
Recruitment and Retention Director & Wake County Mentor
Beth Presley, M.A., CCC-SLP, obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Education of the Deaf in 1987 and later earned her Master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology in 2000 both from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Beth recently retired from NC’s public school system with 32 years of service. Beth has previously worked at Central NC School for the Deaf, Rowan-Salisbury Schools, Rockingham County Schools, Cheshire Center, and most recently, Wake County Public Schools. Beth has experience with birth to school age populations with multiple needs. Her special interests include mentoring, clinical supervision, augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) including high and low tech devices, and phonological disorders. Beth has provided mentoring and supervision throughout her 30+ year career to graduate interns and new speech language pathologists. Beth currently serves as the recruitment and retention director at Cheshire Center. She also provides some evaluations and treatment services. “When I first began working with young children who were hearing impaired and deaf, it became apparent to me that communication was the key to education and life. I was inspired by the speech language pathologists in my various work settings, and in 1997, I returned to graduate school to obtain a Master’s degree in Communication and Science Disorders. Nothing has given me more satisfaction than empowering children to become better communicators and helping families to support their children’s communication. I have always loved my job, and even though I have retired from the public school setting, I am excited to continue to help children and their families in this clinical setting.”
Natalie Woempner, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
President
Natalie Slade Woempner, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in 1992 and has spent the majority of her career as a pediatric Speech-Language Pathologist, licensed to practice in NC with her Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association. Natalie has worked at Cheshire Center for over 30 years taking on various roles including clinical documentation reviewer, clinical supervisor of graduate interns and clinical fellows, recruitment, Clinical Director, CEO and now President. Natalie has received the honor of being recognized by the NC Association of Supervisors in Speech Pathology and Audiology as supervisor of the year and has spent some time teaching undergraduates in the study of Speech-Language Pathology at UNCG. Natalie’s favorite role thus far is being a supervisor, teaching, leading and empowering other clinicians in our field to make a difference in the lives of children with communication needs. “It is so rewarding when a child makes tremendous gains in speech therapy. The parent is so happy when their child starts communicating; the therapist is so proud to have facilitated that “aha” moment and the joy on a child’s face when they have successfully communicated or expressed themselves for the first time. This is the reason I love my career and working at Cheshire Center has allowed me to follow my passion!”
Dr. Wayne Foster, PhD, CCC-SLP/A
Audiologist
Dr. Foster retired from the public schools of North Carolina where he served in a variety of capacities over the years: clinician, lead therapist, special education director, RtI director and grant/project director. He has been very active in the North Carolina Speech, Language and Hearing Association (NCSHLA) and the American Speech, Language and Hearing Association (ASHA). He is an ASHA Fellow and received Honors of the Association from NCSHLA. He currently serves on the ASHA Board of Ethics. His research interests are in early childhood language and literacy development. At the Cheshire Center he is the audiologist and research coordinator.
Kyndall Knight, M. A., CCC-SLP
Clinical Supervisor
Kyndall Knight, M.A., CCC-SLP, earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Kyndall is licensed to practice through the NC Board of Examiners and is nationally certified through the American Speech and Hearing Association. She first began working as a student intern at Cheshire Center in 2016. After graduation, Kyndall began her career with Cheshire Center, providing speech-language services to children in a variety of settings and ages ranging from birth to school age. Her special interests include supervision, articulation and phonological disorders, and facilitating language and learning through play-based intervention. Kyndall is involved in recruitment by providing clinical interviews. She has experience supervising graduate student interns and Clinical Fellows. As one of the Clinical Supervisors of the practice, Kyndall provides support and mentorship to all of her fellow Cheshire Center SLPs. “I take pride and love mentoring and training fellow Speech-Language Pathologists and am fortunate to have a position at Cheshire Center that allows me to grow as a clinician while performing work that I am passionate about.”
Janice Swilley, M. S., CCC-SLP
Clinical Supervisor, Guilford/High Point County Mentor & AAC Team Leader
Janice Swilley, M.S., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 1996 and her Master’s degree in 1998 in Communication Sciences and Disorders from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. She is nationally certified through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and licensed through the NC Board of Examiners. Janice spent the first 9 years of her career working for school districts in Virginia, South Carolina and North Carolina. While a school based SLP, she served students with a variety of disabilities ranging in age from 3-21. She started working for the Cheshire Center in March 2007 where she provides services in homes, daycare settings and Head Start Centers in High Point. Janice provides clinical and procedural support to therapists in Guilford County, especially High Point and is part of Cheshire’s audit team. Janice is particularly interested in supervision serving as a clinical supervisor for graduate students and clinical fellows and providing support for new clinical supervisors. Areas of clinical interest include language development, neurodiversity and motor planning disorders. Janice also heads Cheshire’s AAC evaluation team which works to help families secure funding to obtain personal speech generating devices for their children.
Shannon Tillman, M. A., CCC-SLP
AAC Team
Shannon Tillman, M.A., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has over 20 years of experience in the educational and medical settings. Shannon is nationally certified through the American Speech Language Hearing Association and she is licensed through the North Carolina Board of Examiners. She works both in Caswell County and Rockingham County, serving children in home and school settings, and has a variety of clinical interests including supervision of clinical fellows and SLP assistants. Additional interests include, low tech alternative/augmentative communication, as well as articulation and language delays. Shannon enjoys the possibilities offered by Cheshire Center to work with a variety of clients and their families. “I feel fortunate to work for a company that not only allows me the opportunity to provide speech services to children and families, but also to love, to guide and to encourage them.”
Megan Candelario, M.S., CCC-SLP
AAC Team
Megan Candelario, M.S., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree from Appalachian State University. She began working at Cheshire Center in 2016 with a range of ages from under 2 years old to 13 years of age. Megan has experience in working in homes, both regular and special education classrooms and daycare settings. Her experience also includes supervision in internships and clinical fellowships. She particularly enjoys providing coaching support to caregivers in early intervention and AAC. “I am especially passionate about improving the quality of life of children and their families through communication. I see communication as a basic human right and seek to bring awareness and education to the fact that people may communicate differently, but it does not make their message less worthy of our respect and understanding.”
Emily Sharpe, M. A., CCC-SLP
Clinical Advisor in Stuttering
Emily Sharpe, M.A., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 2006 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her Master’s degree in 2008 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She has specialized in working with children and adults who stutter for ten years. In 2013, she was chosen to attend the Stuttering Foundation’s workshop Using Cognitive Approaches with People who Stutter. For six years, she facilitated the NC Triad chapter of the National Stuttering Association. Emily led a group of Guilford County School speech-language pathologists who partnered with the National Stuttering Association for four years to hold local Family Fun Day workshops for children who stutter and their families. She also enjoys sharing her expertise with other speech-language pathologists by presenting at both the local and state levels. “I am passionate about supporting people who stutter and their families. My approach is to not only work on strategies to manage stuttering, but to also look at the emotions that can surround stuttering. Our goal is to determine what being an effective communicator means to each person who stutters and how we can work together towards that goal.”
Meredith Higgins, M.S., CCC-SLP
Clinical Advisor in Childhood Apraxia of Speech (CAS)
Meredith Higgins, M.S., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University and her Master’s degree from North Carolina Central University in Communication Sciences and Disorders. She is nationally certified through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association and licensed through the NC Board of Examiners. Meredith has been working with Cheshire Center since she graduated in 2020 where she works predominantly in Head Start Centers but also provides services in homes and daycares in Alamance County. Meredith has an interest in supporting children with speech sound disorders, in particular motor planning disorders. She continues to grow her knowledge of Childhood Apraxia of Speech and enjoys guiding fellow SLPs as they Assess, Diagnose, and treat motor planning disorders. “5% of children with speech sound disorders have childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Graduate school only touches on CAS. I was inspired to become a Cheshire advisor for CAS because I wanted to provide education to clinicians so they can feel more comfortable identifying, diagnosing, and treating CAS. I am passionate because I can provide information that helps other clinicians better support their clients. Children with speech sound disorders are my favorite population to work with. I find speech errors and speech patterns interesting. I also love talking about these disorders with others and being a CAS advisor allows me to do that.”
Sheila Jiles, M.Ed., CCC-SLP
Clinical Mentor
Sheila Jiles, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, earned her Master’s of Education degree in Speech Language Pathology from Valdosta State University in Georgia and is licensed to practice though the NC Board of Examiners and the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. She has experience working with toddlers through elementary aged children in both Georgia and North Carolina with one year experience working in Korea for the Department of Defense Dependents Schools. She has been employed with Cheshire Center since 2002 and loves working with caregivers and young children to develop functional communication in the home and daycare environments. Sheila enjoys supervising graduate interns and helping prepare the next generation of speech-language pathologists. “It brings me great joy to see light in the eyes of children when they are able to communicate their basic needs or master a sound they have been working on. Being able to provide early intervention while guiding graduate clinicians in their final steps towards becoming speech language pathologists is an honor. I am very grateful to be employed by a company that is so supportive of its clinicians while also actively making a difference in the community.”
Sarah Hopkins, M.A., CCC-SLP
Clinical Mentor
Sarah Hopkins, M.A., CCC-SLP, completed both her undergraduate work in Communication Sciences and Disorders [1994] and her master’s degree in Speech-Language Pathology [1996] at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Upon graduation, Sarah completed her Clinical Fellowship Year at Cheshire and has remained a part of the Cheshire team since 1996, primarily serving clients within Guilford County in a variety of settings including schools, daycares, and homes. She is nationally certified through the American Speech and Hearing Association and licensed through the NC Board of Examiners. Sarah’s areas of interest include pragmatic language, articulation and phonological disorders, phonemic awareness, building expressive communication skills for nonverbal clients, and facilitating language within the natural environment. Sarah also sees great value in equipping parents and caregivers with the skills needed to facilitate speech and language skills across all environments. Sarah is passionate about educating the next generation of speech-language pathologists by providing ongoing supervision of graduate clinicians and clinical fellows. In addition to training new therapists at Cheshire, Sarah serves as a Visiting Professor teaching undergraduate courses within the Communication Sciences and Disorders Department at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. “As a therapist, I find great value in first understanding the social impact communication challenges have on each of my clients and their families. It is from that perspective that I strive to facilitate effective and rewarding communication skills for those I serve.”
Dana Lowder, M.A., CCC-SLP
Clinical Mentor
Dana Lowder, M.A., CCC-SLP, earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dana is licensed to practice through the NC Board of Examiners and is nationally certified through the American Speech and Hearing Association. Dana began working at Cheshire Center as an office assistant when she was in college and then completed an internship with Cheshire during her last semester of graduate school. Upon graduation in 2009, she began her career as a SLP at Cheshire Center where she has served children in Head Start programs, daycares, homes and the Cheshire clinic in Guilford and Rockingham counties. Throughout the past 15 years at Cheshire Center, Dana has supervised many Clinical Fellows and Graduate Student Interns. Dana also is a part of the Clinical Interview Team at Cheshire. “My job is very rewarding. I love to see the tremendous growth children make with speech and language services.”
Choua Vue, M.A., CCC-SLP
Clinical Mentor
Choua Vue, M.A., CCC-SLP, earned both her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She did an internship with Cheshire as a graduate student and started working for Cheshire in 2012. Choua’s areas of interest include supervision of undergraduate/graduate students, SLP-Assistants, articulation and phonological disorders and early intervention. She has worked in this field for many years now and enjoys how rewarding it is. Choua thoroughly enjoys working one-on-one with patients so she can support their growth while also educating, supporting and working alongside their families. “I love that Cheshire offers flexibility to provide services in diverse settings with a variety of ages, which helps keep things fresh and exciting. It is gratifying to make a difference in a child’s life, help them reach milestones and make a difference to enrich their speech/communication skills.”
Susan Insco, M. S., CCC-SLP
Clinical Mentor
Susan Insco, M.S., CCC-SLP, is licensed through the NC Board of Examiners and nationally certified through the American Speech-Language Hearing Association. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 2004 and Master’s degree in 2006 in Communication Disorders from Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Susan has been an employee of Cheshire Center for more than 10 years and spends her days working in a variety of settings including educational facilities and community and home-based sites in Orange and Alamance counties. She has served as clinical supervisor for graduate interns, SLP assistants, and clinical fellows. Susan is the go-to clinician for therapists in Alamance county providing procedural and clinical support. Susan enjoys working with toddlers, preschoolers, and early elementary aged children with a variety of communication needs. Special interests include language development, augmentative communication and providing clinical supervision.
Lindsay Gustin, M. A., CCC-SLP
Clinical Auditor
Lindsay Gustin, M.A., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor’s degree in 2006 and Master’s degree in 2008 from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and is a licensed Speech-Language Pathologist that began her career with the Cheshire Center over 14 years ago. She enjoys her time working in Randolph County serving children in preschools, Head Starts, homes, and daycares. Her focus is children ages birth to five, with a primary focus on preschool age children in a collaborative preschool environment. Lindsay also serves as a clinical auditor for the Cheshire Center, where she supports fellow clinicians in their documentation to ensure that it meets all needed standards. “I love my job for many reasons, but the absolute best thing is getting to be a part of a child establishing or increasing their communication skills. Communication is such a fundamental component of life, and to be a part of helping to develop those skills in someone is so rewarding.”
Andrea Bowen, M. S., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist & SLP-Assistant Clinical Supervisor
Andrea Bowen, M.S., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor’s in Communication Science in 1990 from the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, PA and her Master’s in Speech-Language Pathology in 1992 from Nova University in Davie, FL. Prior to joining Cheshire Center in 2013, Andrea worked in a variety of pediatric settings across FL, NY, TX and CA. Andrea is licensed to practice in NC with her Certificate of Clinical Competence through the American Speech and Hearing Association. Andrea specializes in the areas of receptive/expressive language disorders and phonology in the preschool population. She provides services to children in Greensboro. Andrea currently coordinates the Cheshire Center Speech Language Pathology-Assistant program mentoring both Licensed Speech Language Pathology-Assistants and student SLP-A candidates, as well as their supervisors. Andrea has special interests in “late talkers,” professional collaboration, clinical supervision and peer mentoring.
Dayna Burns, M.A., CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
Dayna Burns, M.A., CCC-SLP, obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Southern Mississippi and earned her Master’s degree at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Dayna is licensed to practice through the NC Board of Examiners and is nationally certified through the American Speech-Language and Hearing Association. She started her career as a therapist at Cheshire Center working with children of all ages in a variety of settings. Her special interests include early intervention, apraxia of speech and providing therapy services to clients who need or use Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices. She also has experience supervising graduate student interns at the Cheshire Center. “Seeing the joy and confidence in a child’s eyes when they communicate in a new way for the first time drives me to be an exceptional speech therapist.”
